There are around three billion active users collectively on the biggest four messaging apps that people use around the world: Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, WeChat and Viber. This collective figure now outranks the number of users on the four most prominent social networking sites, including Facebook. This is set to revolutionise the ways that publishers are delivering content.
Many esteemed leaders in the news industry, such as the BBC and the Wall Street Journal, have been looking at a way to tap into this burgeoning market. A presence on a number of these apps aims to maximise their audience across these platforms.
Since there are so many users, the potential to deliver custom news feeds and tailored content across these platforms offers a huge opportunity for publishers to increase their market share.
Those who are looking to provide this content are experimenting with a number of different forms, including articles, videos, surveys and images.
According to a report from Business Insider’s Intelligence series, many strategies are taking place. One key factor to take away is the myriad different demographics within reach across all of these different chat platforms, hence the need to specialise the content being offered. Certain publishers are watching to see the response of their audiences to these new developments.
Another exciting aspect for publishers is the chance for content to be shared through private networks rather than only being publicly displayed on a news feed. It means that articles and content can be transferred through private conversation as much as via public means.
The move towards accepting the prevalence of these kinds of platforms and finding a way to make the most of it rather than following the same old methods is an interesting prospect for these publishers, who are inevitably cautious after the demise of traditional print media.
With the number of smartphones and wireless capable devices only increasing, the chance to capture an ever-increasing audience ought to be too much of an opportunity to resist for many content producers – news that will also please those who work in the article and content writing industry.
